Hometown Hamburg

Got back into Hamburg late on Sunday night after a lovely 12 days in Majorca. I didn't really want to leave, especially after doing 150km in the best possible weather in the morning before we left. The weather reports coming out of Hamburg were pretty crappy too - like below zero and snowy, so it wasn't looking like it would be a good time back here. Today is awesome, but I'm on two days of rest before training again, so guaranteed that tomorrow the weather will be crap again.

The new bike, by the way, is killer. Aside from giving me a bit of tendinitis due to new frame, new pedals etc., it rides really well. Light, stiff, the whole deal. Can't wait to race it. Our early season race program kicks off on April 1st and 2nd, with back to back road races. Point to point, fast, windy and wet, these should be a good way to wake myself up for a another year of racing. So I'm busy scrambling around right now getting new tires glued up, tracking down racing cassettes and generally making sure that everything is good to go. It's hard to believe, but cyclocross season only ended for me about 6 weeks ago, and now I'm right back into the road season. Somehow we'll have to figure out how to integrate lots of distance training with all the racing. I think basically I'll just be really tired a lot of the time. The team isn't too concerned about getting results in the early season; we are mainly looking for building a really solid fitness base for 'cross season, so don't expect to see me up the road a whole lot this spring. Hiding out in the group is OK by me, but hey, if the opportunity presents itself I will take a crack for sure.

Stay warm,
GReain